WATCH: Young, hot and bothered: My teenage menopause story
At just 15 years old Annabelle Gauntlett battled early menopause and anorexia, facing overwhelming physical and emotional challenges.
I was sitting in my science class when my chest started to burn, my cheeks felt flushed and I suddenly had this overwhelming nervous sensation that fully immersed my body.
My teacher looked at my brightly coloured red cheeks and said: “I get those because I’ve got menopause”. It suddenly hit me that I might be going through that.
From the age of 13 I struggled with an eating disorder, and for a while it completely took over my life. Every moment of the day focused around how many calories I was eating, how much a glass of water weighed and how I was going to lose more weight than the day before.
I was soon diagnosed with anorexia.
Before I knew it I was attending a clinic where I was weighed blind, prescribed dozens of pills and told to talk about why I was struggling. I never felt like I was doing anything right when I went to the clinic. If I had lost weight I was forced to drink calorific milkshakes and if I had gained weight I felt like I didn’t belong there or deserve the help I needed.
I remember one time myself, my mum and my dad went to the clinic. It was my dad’s first time, and one of my last. I remember seeing him tear up and his face tense. He was scared that his little girl wasn't going to recover.
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That moment stays with me because seeing how this condition had completely taken over not just my life but also my parents’ infuriated me.
From that day I worked tirelessly to recover, and I did.
After I regained a healthy weight, got into a structured eating routine and found my mental clarity again, I was struck with another problem. My periods sstill hadn’t returned.
When the doctors told me that my period stopping was an expected side effect of anorexia I didn’t think anything else of it, and they told me this repeatedly, with no investigation, for two years.
But when I continued to have hot flushes, anxiety and cognitive issues despite being a healthy weight, alarm bells started to go off.
And I wasn’t the only one. My mum also thought something wasn’t quite right, so back to the doctors we went.
This time I was blessed enough to be given a GP who immediately thought it could be early menopause.
As I sat and nodded, not really knowing what menopause was or what it would entail for my future, my mum sat next to me, shaking her head and crying.
Fast forward six months during which I endured dozens of hospital appointments, blood tests and scans, and it was official: I had premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) - otherwise known as early menopause at age 15.
While my parents were busy asking the specialists about hormone replacement therapy options, I was too occupied trying to fathom out how this had happened to me. Isn’t menopause meant to happen in your fifties?
The doctors couldn’t give me any answers apart from telling me that it could have been triggered by my eating disorder. However, 90 per cent of women have no answer to a direct cause.
For years I lived with the burden that I did this to myself, that I have no reason to feel sad because I inflicted this pain on myself, but the truth is that I’m not the only one - and I’m not to blame.
1.25 million people in the UK alone suffer from eating disorders, according to Beat Eating Disorders UK, which can lead to further health implications. Around one in 100 women in the UK have POI according to the NHS.
To this day I still don’t know what brought on menopause in my case, but surely if the causes were established, and we knew more about the condition, then these statistics could reduce?
Menopause is still a taboo topic for many but it’s a condition that shouldn’t be seen as something to be ashamed of. I was once isolated from my peers because of my diagnosis, but it isn’t until we share our stories that we are no longer alone.
Girls need to start being taught about the importance of their menstrual cycle and the potential changes that can occur in their bodies.
Periods are not something to feel embarrassed about discussing - in fact they need to be discussed more to ensure young girls fully understand the importance of regulating them.
Menopause does not belittle your value, whatever your age. It’s just another hurdle to overcome in the marathon of womanhood, and talking about it is the first step in the right direction.
I once hid away from my condition, but now, ages 21, I understand that sharing my story is an opportunity to break through the stigma and help others. Join me.
